Vacuum processing apparatus and vacuum processing method

ABSTRACT

A vacuum processing apparatus includes a processing unit comprising a processing chamber disposed in a vacuum container, a detector detecting a thickness of the target film on a wafer or an end point during the processing of the wafer using a light from the wafer, the detector being functioned to detect the thickness or the end point by comparing a data pattern of obtained in advance indicating light intensities of a plurality of wavelengths related to the film thickness using the wavelength as a parameter and a real data pattern indicating the light intensities of the plurality of wavelengths obtained at a particular time during the processing, and the data pattern being obtained by dividing differential coefficient value of time-series data of the light intensities of the plurality of wavelengths by time-series data indicating values of the light intensities of the plurality of wavelengths.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus or a vacuum processing method in which a processing target film layer on a surface of a substrate-shaped sample such as a semiconductor wafer disposed in a processing chamber in a vacuum chamber is processed using plasma formed in the processing chamber in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, and relates to a vacuum processing apparatus or a vacuum processing method of processing while detecting a remaining film thickness of the film layer on the sample surface and a processing depth.

Description of the Related Art

In manufacture of semiconductor devices, dry etching is widely used in a process of removing layers of various materials and layers of dielectric materials that are formed in advance on a surface of a semiconductor wafer before processing to form a circuit pattern. In order to increase a yield of the manufacture of the semiconductor device by forming a pattern with high accuracy using such dry etching, during etching processing of a target film layer, it is required to stop the etching at a desired remaining film thickness or a desired etching depth. That is, in order to improve processing accuracy of circuits of the semiconductor device, it is necessary to detect an etching end point more accurately in the dry etching process.

In response to the above-described requirements, as the target film layer is etched and the remaining film thickness changes (decreases in the etching), as one of the methods of determining the end point of the etching by using a fact that an intensity of light of a specific wavelength from the film is changed, a technique of detecting the end point of the etching based on the intensity of the light of the specific wavelength from plasma detected during the etching process or a change thereof in the related art is known. As such a technique, for example, one disclosed in JP-A-2007-234666 (Patent Literature 1) is known from the related art. The related art describes a method of performing end point determination based on a temporal change in a reflected light amount of a wafer during the etching.

That is, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of detecting an intensity of interference light of a plurality of wavelengths formed by reflecting light in a processing chamber on an upper surface and a bottom surface of a processing target film or a change rate thereof over time at each sampling time during processing of the wafer, and of detecting a remaining film thickness of a film during the processing or an etching depth to determine arrival of the etching process to the end point by comparing a pattern of the intensity or a change rate with the detected wavelengths as parameters at each time with data to be used as a reference for comparison which indicates a correlation between a remaining film thickness of a processing target film layer obtained in advance before the processing of the wafer and a pattern of values of the intensity of the interference light with the above-described wavelength as the parameter or the change rate thereof. A sample wafer for obtaining the data is etched in advance under the same conditions as the processing of the product wafer, with a semiconductor wafer having substantially the equivalent structure as or similar to the wafer used for manufacturing a semiconductor device as a product, and the above-described data to be used as a reference is obtained during the etching for the sample and is stored as a database in the storage device configured to be communicable with an apparatus for performing the etching processing.

However, the above-described technique in the related art has a problem because the following points are not sufficiently taken into consideration.

That is, (A) when the end point of the processing performed in a processing chamber different from a processing chamber in which reference data used to determine the remaining film thickness stored in the database is obtained is detected, since a balance of a spectrum of the interference light generated in each processing chamber differs among the processing chambers, data related to the intensity of the interference light obtained from the processing chamber when the target remaining film thickness or the end point of the processing is actually arrived is different from the value of the reference data in the database even if the end point of the processing is determined in each processing chamber using the same database data. Therefore, even if the accuracy of the determination is within an allowable range for the determination of the end point of the processing in one processing chamber and the accuracy of the determination is outside the allowable range for the determination in the other processing chamber, a phenomenon such as it is determined that a correct end point is arrived may occur, and the accuracy of determining the arrival to the end point of the processing or target remaining film thickness may be different in each of the plurality of processing chambers.

Further, (B) even when an atmosphere in the processing chamber is different from an atmosphere when the data is obtained, a difference in the balance of the spectrum of the interference light occurs in the processing of a plurality of wafers performed in the same processing chamber. Therefore, even when conditions such as a surface or gas in the processing chamber are different from those when the reference data of a film thickness is obtained by etching a plurality of lots in the processing chamber and attaching a deposit to the processing chamber, the accuracy of determination of an arrival to the target film thickness or the end point is different.

Therefore, in the above-described related art, the problems that a variation in a process shape as a result of the processing of the wafer increases and the yield of the processing of manufacturing the semiconductor device is impaired are not taken into consideration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus or a vacuum processing method that improves the yield of the processing.

The above-described object is achieved by a vacuum processing apparatus including a processing unit including a processing chamber which is disposed in a vacuum container and in which plasma is formed, a sample table disposed below a space in which the plasma is formed in the processing chamber and on which a wafer having a processing target film is mounted on an upper surface, a light receiving unit disposed above the processing chamber and configured to receive light from the wafer during processing of the wafer using the plasma, and a detector connected to the light receiving unit and configured to detect a thickness of the processing target film during the processing or an arrival at an end point of the processing. The detector has a function of detecting the thickness of the processing target film by comparing a pattern for detection in which a wavelength of a predetermined value related to intensities of light of a plurality of wavelengths with respect to a change of the thickness of the processing target film obtained in advance is used as a parameter and a real pattern of the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths obtained at a particular time during the processing, and the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light is obtained by dividing differential coefficient value of time-series data of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths by time-series data indicating values of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vacuum processing apparatus or a vacuum processing method that improves a yield of the processing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an outline of an overall configuration of a vacuum processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of a configuration of a vacuum processing unit of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation of detecting an etching amount of a plasma processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of a vacuum processing apparatus in the related art.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are graphs showing a wavelength profile of a light emission intensity obtained during wafer etching processing performed by the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and the technique in the related art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, as at least one process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, in a vacuum processing apparatus including a plurality of vacuum processing units each including a processing chamber in which a processing target substrate-shaped sample using plasma, such as a semiconductor wafer, is disposed in a vacuum container, in any one of the processing units, a processing target film layer of a film structure which includes a mask layer formed and disposed in advance on a surface of a sample and the processing target film layer below the mask layer is etched using the plasma formed in the processing chamber. At this time, intensities of interference light of a plurality of wavelengths from the film structure of the wafer surface are detected during processing of the sample (real wafer) for manufacturing the device, and a pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a real pattern) indicating dependency of a differential value of the intensities of the interference light over time on the wavelength (wavelength is set to be a parameter) is calculated. Further, prior to the processing of the real wafer, an etching amount of the real wafer is calculated by comparing the real pattern with a pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a standard pattern) indicating (wavelength is set to be a parameter) wavelength dependence of the differential value of the interference light with respect to a remaining film thickness and an etching depth (etching amount) of the processing target film layer obtained by etching a sample (sample wafer) having a configuration substantially equivalent to the real wafer in a processing chamber of the same vacuum processing unit, and whether an end point of etching is arrived is determined.

Embodiment 1

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 4.

First, an overall configuration of a vacuum processing apparatus including a plurality of vacuum processing units including a configuration for detecting an etching amount (here, an etching depth or a remaining film thickness of a real wafer) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an outline of the overall configuration of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a vacuum processing apparatus 100, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of across section of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 as seen from above.

The vacuum processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in the figure is roughly divided into an atmosphere side block 101 and a vacuum side block 102. The atmosphere side block 101 is a portion for transferring a substrate-shaped sample such as a semiconductor wafer which is a processing target material under an atmospheric pressure and for performing accommodating positioning and the like, and the vacuum side block 102 is a block for transferring the substrate-shaped sample such as the wafer under a pressure decompressed from the atmospheric pressure and for performing processing in a predetermined vacuum processing chamber. Further, between a location of the vacuum side block 102 where the above-described transfer and the processing of the vacuum side block 102 are performed and the atmosphere side block 101, a portion which is disposed by connecting the location of the vacuum side block 102 and the atmosphere side block 101 and which raises and lowers a pressure between the atmospheric pressure and a vacuum pressure in a state where the sample is inside is disposed.

The atmosphere side block 101 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 106 including an atmosphere side transfer robot 109 inside, and a plurality of cassette tables 107 which are attached to a front surface side of the casing 106 and on which cassettes in which substrate-shaped samples (hereinafter, wafers 126) such as semiconductor wafers to be processed for processing or cleaning are accommodated are placed.

The vacuum side block 102 is disposed between a first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and a second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 and the atmosphere side block 101, and includes one or a plurality of lock chambers 105 for exchanging the pressure between the atmospheric pressure and the vacuum pressure in a state where the wafer, which is a processing target material for being exchanged between an atmosphere side and a vacuum side, is provided inside. The lock chamber is a vacuum container whose internal space can be adjusted to the above-described pressure, and is disposed with a passage through which the wafer is transferred inside and a valve which can open and close the passage and can seal the passage hermetically at a connected location which is not shown, and hermetically divides the atmosphere side and the vacuum side. Further, the internal space is provided with an accommodating unit capable of accommodating and holding a plurality of wafers with a vertical gap therebetween, and is closed by the valve and is hermetically divided in a state where the wafers are accommodated.

The first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 are units each including a vacuum container having a substantially rectangular planar shape, and are two units having a structural difference that can be regarded as substantially the same. Purge gas such as inert gas whose flow rate is adjusted based on a command signal from a control unit (not shown) of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 is introduced into the vacuum transfer chamber, and the vacuum transfer chamber is evacuated, whereby the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 are configured to be adjustable to a pressure value relatively lower than the other vacuum processing chamber 103 and a vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111, the same pressure value or a pressure value considered to be the same pressure value, or a pressure value relatively higher than the vacuum processing chamber 103 and the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111.

The vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 is a vacuum container whose inside can be decompressed to a pressure relatively higher than the other vacuum processing chambers, and the vacuum transfer chambers are connected to each other and internal chambers are communicated with each other. Valves (not shown) that communicate the internal chambers and open and close the passage through which the wafers are transferred inside to divide the passage are disposed between the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 and a vacuum transfer chamber connected and disposed at a location of an end side in a front-rear (left-right in the figure) direction, and by closing the valves, the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber and the vacuum transfer chamber are hermetically sealed. The vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 of the present embodiment is not provided with a mechanism for purging or a mechanism for evacuating a space in which the wafer in the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 is accommodated, and the transfer intermediate chamber 111 is a chamber that functions as a path when the wafer is transferred between one vacuum transfer chamber and the other vacuum transfer chamber that sandwich the transfer intermediate chamber 111 and are connected with each other.

Further, in the internal chambers of the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111, the accommodating unit is disposed on which both ends of each of the plurality of wafers are placed and which opens the gap between an upper surface and a lower surface and is held horizontally, and the internal chambers have a function of a relay chamber that is temporarily accommodates the wafer when the wafer is transferred between the first and the second vacuum transfer chambers 104-1 and 104-2. That is, the wafer placed on the accommodating unit is carried in by one of vacuum transfer robots 108 in one vacuum transfer chamber and is carried out by one of vacuum transfer robots 108 in the other vacuum transfer chamber, and is transferred to the vacuum processing chamber 103 or the lock chamber 105 connected to the vacuum transfer chamber.

The vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 is disposed between side walls of the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2, each of the side walls corresponds to a surface located in surfaces opposite to each other, and the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 are connected to each other. Further, the vacuum processing chamber 103 of which the inside is decompressed and the wafer is transferred into the inside and which processes the wafer is connected to the other surface. In the present embodiment, the vacuum processing chamber 103 represents an entire unit including an electric field and magnetic field generating unit that includes the vacuum container and an exhaust unit that includes a vacuum pump that exhausts a decompressed space in the container, and etching processing, asking processing, or another processing are performed on the semiconductor wafer 126 in the internal processing chamber.

Further, each vacuum processing chamber 103 is connected to a pipeline through which processing gas supplied according to the processing to be performed flows. Each vacuum processing chamber 103 can be decompressed to a pressure relatively lower than the pressures of the other vacuum transfer chambers and the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber, and each internal pressure can be adjusted by receiving a command from a command device (not shown) by the processing performed in each of the vacuum processing chambers. That is, in the plurality of vacuum processing chambers, when types of the processing to be applied to the wafer are set to be different, the pressure in each of the vacuum processing chambers may not be all the same, but the pressure in the vacuum processing chamber may be different and the pressure may be adjusted to an optimum pressure for each processing.

Each of the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 is configured to be connectable with two vacuum processing chambers 103, and in the present embodiment, the two vacuum processing chambers 103 are connected to the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2.

The inside of each of the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 is a transfer chamber, and in the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1, the vacuum transfer robot 108 that transfers the wafer 126 between the lock chamber 105 and one of the vacuum processing chamber 103 and the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 under vacuum is disposed in a central portion of the internal space thereof. In the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2, the vacuum transfer robot 108 is disposed in a central portion inside the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 in a similar manner as described above, and transfers the wafer 126 to one of the vacuum processing chamber 103 and the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111. The vacuum transfer robots 108 have the same configuration.

In the vacuum transfer robot 108, the wafer is placed on an arm thereof, and in the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1, the vacuum transfer robot 108 carries into and carries out the wafer between a wafer stage disposed in the vacuum processing chamber 103 and one of the lock chamber 105 and the first vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111. As described above, although not shown, the passage communicating with each of the vacuum processing chamber 103, the lock chamber 105, the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111, the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1, and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 by the valve that can be closed and opened hermetically is provided, and the passage is opened and closed by the valve.

Next, an operation of performing processing on the wafer in such a vacuum processing apparatus 100 will be described below.

The plurality of wafers accommodated in a cassette that is placed on one of the cassette tables 107 receive, by some communication unit, a command from a command device (not shown) connected to the vacuum processing apparatus 100 for adjusting the operation of the vacuum processing apparatus 100, or receive a command from a command device or the like of a manufacturing line in which the vacuum processing apparatus 100 is provided, and the processing thereof is started. The atmosphere side transfer robot 109 which receives the command from the command device takes out a specific wafer in the cassette from the cassette and transfers the specific wafer to the lock chamber 105.

For example, in the lock chamber 105 in which the wafer is transferred and accommodated, a valve (not shown) on the atmosphere side is closed and sealed in a state where the transferred wafer is accommodated, and the pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure. Hereinafter, in the lock chamber 105, a valve on a side facing the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 is opened, so that the first lock chamber 105 and the transfer chamber of the vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 communicate with each other.

The vacuum transfer robot 108 extends the arm thereof into the lock chamber 105, receives the wafer in the lock chamber 105 on a support portion of the wafer 126 at a distal portion of the arm, and carries the wafer out into the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1. Further, the first vacuum transfer robot 108 carries the wafer placed on the arm thereof into either the vacuum processing chamber 103 or the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 connected to the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 along a transfer path specified in advance by the command device when the wafer is taken out from the cassette. For example, the wafer transferred to the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 is then carried out from the vacuum transfer intermediate chamber 111 to the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 by the vacuum transfer robot 108 provided in the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2, and is carried into one of the vacuum processing chambers 103, which is a destination of the predetermined transfer path.

After the wafer is transferred to one of the vacuum processing chambers 103, a valve that opens and closes between the vacuum processing chamber 103 and the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 connected to the vacuum processing chamber 103 is closed to seal the vacuum processing chamber. Hereinafter, processing gas is introduced into the processing chamber to adjust the pressure in the vacuum processing chamber to a pressure suitable for the processing. An electric field or a magnetic field is supplied to the vacuum processing chamber to excite the processing gas, plasma is formed in the processing chamber, and the wafer is processed.

The valve that opens and closes between one of the vacuum processing chambers 103 on which the wafers are processed and the vacuum transfer chamber connected to the vacuum processing chamber 103 is opened in a state where other valves that can open and close a space including the vacuum transfer chamber, connected to the vacuum transfer chamber, and communicating with each other are closed by receiving the command from the command device. For example, before the valve is opened that defines between one of the vacuum processing chambers 103 and the vacuum transfer chamber to which the vacuum processing chamber 103 is connected, the command device commands an operation of closing or confirming the closing of any of the valves that open and close a gate disposed on the passage through which the wafer 126 of each vacuum processing chamber is transferred such that the vacuum processing chamber and another vacuum processing chamber do not communicate with each other, and after it is confirmed, the valve that seals one of the vacuum processing chambers 103 is opened.

When it is detected that etching processing of the wafer is completed, after it is confirmed that the valve between the other vacuum processing chamber 103 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 is closed to hermetically seal the two, a valve that opens and closes between one of the vacuum processing chambers 103 and the second vacuum transfer chamber 104-2 connected to the vacuum processing chamber 103 is opened, the vacuum transfer robot 108 carries out a processed wafer into the inside thereof, and carries the wafer into the lock chamber 105 through a transfer path opposite to that when the wafer is carried into the processing chamber.

When the wafer is transferred to the lock chamber 105, a valve that opens and closes a passage that communicates the lock chamber 105 and the transfer chamber of the first vacuum transfer chamber 104-1 is closed, and a pressure in the lock chamber 105 is increased to the atmospheric pressure. Hereinafter, the valve that defines an inner side of the casing 106 is opened, an inside of the lock chamber 105 and an inside of the casing 106 are communicated with each other, and the atmosphere side transfer robot 109 transfers the wafer from the lock chamber 105 to an original cassette and returns the wafer to an original position in the cassette.

Next, a configuration of any one of the four vacuum processing units 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, and 103-4 of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2. In the figure, any one of the vacuum processing units will be described with a reference numeral 103. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of the configuration of the vacuum processing unit of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

In a decompressed inside of any one of the vacuum transfer chambers connected to the plasma processing unit 103, the plasma processing unit 103 shown in the figure includes a processing chamber 2 which is held at the arm distal portion of the vacuum transfer robot 108 disposed inside the vacuum transfer chamber and is carried in through a gate whose valve is opened. The vacuum processing unit 103 of the present embodiment roughly includes a vacuum container provided with the processing chamber 2 inside, a plasma forming unit (not shown) which is disposed outside an upper portion of the vacuum container and which supplies the electric field or the magnetic field for forming plasma in the processing chamber 2, and an exhaust unit which is disposed below the vacuum container and includes the vacuum pump (not shown) which communicates with the processing chamber 2 and is connected to an exhaust port disposed at a bottom of the processing chamber 2. The vacuum container is provided with the processing chamber 2 which is a space in which a wafer 4 such as a semiconductor wafer that is transferred and disposed is etching-processed, and below the inside of the vacuum container, a sample table 5 on which the wafer 4 transferred on an upper surface thereof is placed is disposed. Further, a plasma processing apparatus 1 is provided with an etching amount detection apparatus 8 which is connected to the vacuum container and detects an etching amount of an etching target film using light received from the inside of the processing chamber 2 during the etching processing of the etching target film disposed in advance on the upper surface of the wafer 4 using plasma 3 formed in the processing chamber 2.

In the processing chamber 2, etching processing gas is introduced from a gas introducing unit (not shown), atoms or molecules thereof are excited by an electric field or a magnetic field generated by the plasma forming unit that receives power from a high-frequency power source (not shown), and ionized or dissociated to form the plasma 3, and the wafer 4 such as the semiconductor wafer on the sample table 5 disposed below the processing chamber 2 is etching-processed by the plasma 3.

A target film structure to be etching-processed which is disposed in advance on the surface of the wafer 4 of the present embodiment includes films of a plurality of layers in an upper-lower direction including a layer of a resist (having an organic material) as a mask layer above and a processing target film layer disposed below the layer of a resist. A process of the processing of the wafer 4 shown in the present embodiment constitutes a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device in which the processing gas containing carbon (C) is supplied into the processing chamber 2 to form the plasma, and a groove or a hole is formed in a shape along a pattern of a mask by etching to form a pattern of a circuit when the processing target film is viewed from above. It is known that in such a configuration, attenuation of light having a wavelength in an ultraviolet light region of the interference light obtained from the film structure is relatively large.

Light emission of the plasma 3 generated when the wafer 4 is etching-processed is reflected by an interface of the film structure of the film layer which is the etching target film (processing target film) disposed on the upper surface of the wafer 4 and the film structure existing below the film layer to form interference light 6. That is, the interference light 6 contains a component caused by interference due to a remaining film of the etching target film, and a thickness of the film can be detected by detecting a change in an intensity thereof. The interference light 6 and non-interference light emission are received by a light receiver disposed above the processing chamber 2 and are transmitted to the etching amount detection apparatus 8 through an optical fiber 7.

For each predetermined time (sampling interval) during the processing of the wafer 4, the etching amount detection apparatus 8 calculates a pattern of the light intensity with a wavelength of the interference light as a parameter using the signal indicating the light intensity of a plurality of wavelengths obtained from the light emission output from the spectroscope 9, and calculates the remaining film thickness of the etching target film and the etching amount by comparing with data stored in advance in a differential waveform pattern database 15 and showing a correlation between a film thickness and the pattern of the intensity of the interference light. That is, the etching amount detection apparatus 8 includes a spectroscope 9, a first digital filter 10, a differentiator 11, a second digital filter 12, a differential waveform divider 13, a differential waveform comparator 14, the differential waveform pattern database 15, a regression analyzer 16, an end point determination device 17 that determines the end point of the etching based on results of the comparators, and a display 18 that displays a determination result of the end point determination device. The light emission transmitted through the optical fiber 7 and introduced into the spectroscope 9 is separated into a plurality of predetermined wavelengths, intensities of the light of the respective wavelengths are detected, and converted into digital signals indicating the intensities.

It should be noted that FIGS. 1A and 1B show a functional configuration of the etching amount detection apparatus 8, and an actual configuration of the etching amount detection apparatus 8 excluding the display 18 and the spectroscope 9 can be configured with a storage device including a CPU, an ROM that stores various data such as an etching depth and film thickness detection processing program, and a differential waveform pattern database of the interference light 6, an RAM that stores detection data, and an external storage device, a data input and output device, and a communication control device. This also applies to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The interference light from the film structure on the upper surface of the wafer 4 captured by the spectroscope 9 during the processing includes a plurality of wavelengths, and is converted into a current detection signal corresponding to the intensity of the light for each wavelength and is further converted into a voltage signal. The interference light of the plurality of wavelengths received at any sampling time i and sent to the spectroscope 9 is output as a sampling signal indicating the intensity of each of the plurality of wavelengths at the time i, and is stored in the storage device such as a RAM (not shown) as time-series data y_(ij).

Next, the time-series data y_(ij) from the spectroscope 9 is transmitted to the first digital filter circuit 10, and is smoothed by removing data of a predetermined frequency or higher in the data, and the data obtained by the processing is stored in the storage device such as a RAM as smoothing time-series data Y_(ij). The smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) is transmitted to the differentiator 11, and time-series data d_(ij) of a differential coefficient value (primary derivative value or secondary derivative value) at a predetermined sampling time is calculated and stored in the storage device such as a RAM. The time-series data d_(ij) of the differential coefficient values is transmitted to the second digital filter circuit 12, smoothed again, and stored in the storage device such as a RAM as smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij).

Herein, calculation of smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) will be described. As the first digital filter circuit 10, for example, a secondary Butterworth type low-pass filter is used. Smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) is obtained by an equation (1) with the secondary Butterworth type low-pass filter.

Yi=b1·y _(i) +b2·y _(i−1) +b3·y _(i−2)−[a2·+Y _(i−1) +a3·Y _(i−2].)  (1)

Herein, coefficients a and b have different values depending on a time (sampling interval or sampling frequency) at each sampling time and a cutoff frequency. For example, coefficient values are a2=−1.143, a3=0.4128, b1=0.067455, b2=−0.013491, b3=0.067455 (sampling frequency is 10 Hz, cutoff frequency is 1 Hz).

Time-series data di of a second differential coefficient value is calculated by the differentiator 11 from an equation (2) using a polynomial adaptive smoothing differentiation method of time-series data Yi of 5 points as follows.

j=2

d _(i) =Σw _(j) ·Y _(i+j)  (2)

j=−2  (2)

Herein, as an example of a value of a weighting factor w_(j), w⁻²=2, w⁻¹=−1, w₀=−2, w₁=−1, w₂=2.

The smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) is calculated by using the time-series data d_(i) of the differential coefficient value from an equation (3) by, for example, a second Butterworth type low-pass filter as the second digital filter circuit 12 as follows.

D _(ij) =b1·d _(i) +b2·d _(i−1) +b3·d _(i−2)−[a2·D _(i−1) +a3·D _(i−2])  (3)

Then, by dividing the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) in the differential waveform divider 13, a real pattern Q_(ij) (wavelength is set to be a parameter) indicating wavelength dependence of a differential value of an interference light intensity is determined.

On the other hand, in the differential waveform pattern database 15, interference light pattern data Ps_(j) obtained when the wafer 4 which is a processing target for manufacturing the semiconductor device, and a test wafer whose film structure of a surface thereof is equivalent in a material, a shape, and a configuration are etching processed under the equivalent condition as the wafer 4 is stored in advance. The interference light pattern data Ps_(j) includes a pattern in which a wavelength of the intensity of the interference light from the etching target film corresponding to a different remaining film thickness of the etching target film or a value of data indicating the different remaining film thickness is set to be a parameter. The differential waveform pattern database 15 is stored in a storage device such as a RAM or a ROM (not shown), or a hard disk or a DVD disk in the etching amount detection apparatus 8.

The differential waveform comparator 14 compares the differential waveform pattern database 15 with the real pattern Q_(ij) of the interference light corresponding to a predetermined sampling time. That is, a difference between the pattern data Ps_(j) stored in the differential waveform pattern database 15 and the real pattern Q_(ij) is calculated, data of the pattern with the smallest value of the difference is determined, a remaining film thickness corresponding to the data of the pattern is detected as an instantaneous film thickness value Z_(i) at the sampling time, and a value of the instantaneous film thickness value Z_(i) is stored as the time-series data in the storage device in the etching amount detection apparatus 8.

In the regression analyzer 16, an output from the differential waveform comparator 14 is received or data of the instantaneous film thickness Z_(i) at the sampling time i stored in the storage device is read, an instantaneous film thickness value before the time i is read from the storage device, and a regression analysis using the output or the data of the instantaneous film thickness Z_(i) and the instantaneous film thickness value before the time i is performed, and the film thickness value at the time i is calculated from a result of regression line approximation. That is, a linear regression line Y=X_(a)·t+X_(b) (Y: an amount of the remaining film, t: etching time, X_(a): absolute value of Xb is an etching rate, X_(b): initial film thickness) is obtained by the regression analyzer 16, and a value of a film thickness Y_(i) (calculated film thickness) of the sampling time i is calculated from the regression line.

Next, the data indicating the obtained value of the calculated film thickness Y_(i) is transmitted to the end point determination device 17, in the end point determination device 17, the value of the film thickness Y_(i) and a film thickness (target film thickness) value which is a target of the etching processing are compared, when it is determined that the film thickness Y_(i) is equal to or smaller than the target film thickness value, the etching amount of the etching target film of the wafer 4 arrives the target, and a result thereof is displayed on the display 18. Hereinafter, generation of the electric field or the magnetic field in the plasma forming unit is stopped, the plasma 3 disappears, and the process of the etching processing for the processing target film of the wafer 4 is completed, or the processing conditions such as the etching processing gas and the pressure are changed and the processing of the target film is continued.

In the present embodiment, the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) output from the second digital filter 12 in the differential waveform divider 13 is divided by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) output from the first digital filter 10, and the real pattern Q_(ij) (wavelength is set to be the parameter) indicating the wavelength dependence of the differential value of the intensity of the interference light is calculated. Further, the remaining film thickness is detected from a result of comparison between the real pattern Q_(ij) and the data Ps_(j) of the database of the pattern having the wavelength of the interference light obtained in advance as the parameter. Accordingly, even when the processing is performed in processing chambers with different atmospheres or different optical systems, it is possible to perform end point determination without degrading accuracy with the same differential waveform pattern database.

Next, a procedure for calculating the etching amount of the processing target film when the etching processing is performed by the etching amount detection apparatus 8 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is the flowchart showing a flow of an operation of detecting an etching amount of the plasma processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The flow of the operation of the etching amount detection apparatus 8 is mainly shown.

In the present embodiment, prior to the processing of the wafer 4, the value of the target remaining film thickness of the etching target film and pattern data selected in a differential waveform pattern database used for detection or determination thereof are set (step 301). In the differential waveform pattern database, the interference light pattern (standard pattern) data Ps_(j) is used which has the wavelength as the parameter and is obtained when the wafer 4 which is the processing target for manufacturing the semiconductor device, and the test (sample) wafer whose film structure of the surface thereof is equivalent in the material, the shape, and the configuration are etching processed under the equivalent condition as the wafer 4.

Next, the plasma 3 is formed in the processing chamber 2 to start the processing of the etching target film of the wafer 4, and the interference light obtained from the etching target film during the etching processing is detected at a predetermined sampling interval (for example, 0.1 to 0.5 seconds) (step 302). At this time, a sampling start command is issued along with the start of the etching processing. During the processing, the intensities of multi-wavelength interference light that changes as the etching progresses is transmitted to the spectroscope 9 of the etching amount detection apparatus 8, and is detected and output by a photodetector thereof as a photodetection signal having a voltage corresponding to the intensity of the light for each predetermined frequency.

The photodetection signal of the spectroscope 9 is converted into a digital signal, and a sampling signal y_(ij) as a data signal associated with an arbitrary time is obtained. Next, a multi-wavelength output signal y_(ij) from the spectroscope 9 is smoothed by the first-stage digital filter circuit 10, and the time-series data Y_(ij) at the arbitrary time is calculated (step 303).

Next, the time-series data Y_(ij) is transmitted to the differentiator 11, and a time-series differential coefficient dij is calculated by a Savitzky-Golay method (S-G method) (step 304). That is, a coefficient (primary or secondary) d_(i) of a signal waveform is detected by differential processing (S-G method).

The differential coefficient dij is transmitted to the second-stage digital filter circuit 12, and smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) is calculated (step 305). The obtained smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) is transmitted to the differential waveform comparator 14.

Further, by dividing the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) in the differential waveform divider 13, the real pattern Q_(ij) (wavelength is set to be a parameter) indicating the wavelength dependence of the differential value of the interference light intensity is determined (step 306). When the processing chamber 2 in which the data of the pattern of the differential value of the intensity of the interference light with the wavelength as the parameter is obtained with the wafer 4 as the real wafer is different from a processing chamber in which the data of the standard pattern is acquired using the test wafer, or when conditions of the gas supplied to the processing chamber 2 are different even if the processing chambers are the same processing chamber 2, normalization is performed by dividing the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) by the differential waveform divider 13. By performing the step, it is possible to reduce an influence of the differences on a spectrum balance obtained by receiving the light from the processing chamber 2 and prevent a loss of the accuracy of the detection of the remaining film thickness and the etching amount.

Herein, the real pattern Q_(ij) is obtained by dividing the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij), but may be divided by smoothing time-series data y_(ij). Further, the D_(ij) may be divided using the smoothing time-series data y_(ij) of the differential waveform pattern database which is obtained when the wafer 4 and a test processing target material whose film structure of a surface thereof is equivalent in a material, a shape, and a configuration are etching processed under the equivalent condition as the wafer 4 and is obtained in advance, or the Y_(ij).

Further, in the example of FIG. 2, a value obtained by dividing the time-series data d_(ij) of the differential coefficient value using the Y_(ij) or the y_(ij) may be used as the Q_(ij). Herein, the Y_(ij) or the y_(ij) to be divided by is obtained by the differential waveform pattern database which is obtained when the wafer 4 and the test processing target material whose film structure of a surface thereof is equivalent in the material, the shape, and the configuration are etching processed under the equivalent condition as the wafer 4 and is obtained in advance, or is obtained by light emission data obtained when light is irradiated to the processing chamber for performing the etching processing or a processing chamber having an equivalent atmosphere as the processing chamber for performing the etching processing. Further, herein the value dij calculated using the SG method is used as a dividend, but any value may be used as long as it is time-series data that reflects a difference in the atmosphere in the processing chamber, such as the Y_(ij) itself or a value calculated using a least squares method for the Y_(ij). This also applies to a divisor. Further, the time-series data obtained in advance may be used in the divisor.

In the differential waveform comparator 14, a value of σs (t)=√(Σ(Q_(ij)−Ps_(j)) 2/j) is calculated, and a minimum value of σs (t) is calculated (step 307). A remaining film thickness corresponding to the calculated minimum value of σs (t) is calculated as the instantaneous film thickness data Z_(i) at the arbitrary sampling time (current time) i (step 308).

In the end point determination device 17, an amount of the remaining film of the current processing target film is compared with a preset target remaining film thickness value (set in step 301) to determine whether an end point is arrived (step 308). When it is determined that the thickness is equal to or less than the target remaining film thickness value, it is determined that the target is arrived, and a signal for completing the etching processing is transmitted to the plasma processing apparatus 1. When it is determined that the target is not arrived, the process returns to step 303 and the subsequent processes are performed again. The etching amount such as the etching depth is determined, and when it is determined that the etching amount is sufficient, sampling end setting is finally performed (step 309).

A flow of operations of a vacuum processing apparatus in the related art will be described as a comparative example with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operations of the vacuum processing apparatus in the related art. In the figure, step 306 is omitted from the flowchart showing the flow of the operations of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present embodiment in FIG. 3, and steps 401 to 408 are equivalent to steps 301 to 305 and 307 to 309.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, there is no step (step 306) of calculating the real pattern Q_(ij) (wavelength is set to be a parameter) indicating the wavelength dependence of the differential value of the interference light intensity by dividing the smoothing differential coefficient time-series data D_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij). Therefore, when the wafer 4 as the real wafer is processed in the processing chamber 2 different from the processing chamber in which the differential waveform pattern database is obtained, or in the processing chamber 2 in which the conditions of the supplied gas such as different types and compositions are different in the same processing chamber, the influence of the differences in the conditions in the processing chamber 2 on the spectrum balance cannot be reduced, the accuracy of the detection of target film thickness or the arrival of the end point of the processing is deteriorated, and a yield of the processing is deteriorated.

Effects obtained by the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, a distribution (wavelength profile of a light intensity) of the intensity of light of the plurality of wavelengths of light emission obtained during the etching processing of a processing target material 4 processed in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and a wavelength profile of a light emission intensity obtained during the etching processing using the technique in the related art will be compared with each other. FIGS. 5A and 5B are graphs showing a wavelength profile of a light emission intensity obtained during the wafer etching processing performed by the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and the technique in the related art.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show data obtained during processing of each of the real wafers 4 having equivalent configurations performed in two processing chambers A and B. The processing chambers differ in processing conditions in the processing chamber 2 including at least the composition and flow rate of the supplied gas, and the pressure in the processing chamber among the conditions of the processing of the wafers 4 processed in each of the processing chambers, and portions in which the light from the processing chamber 2 is received and which include the spectroscope 9 and the optical fiber 7 of each of the etching amount detection apparatus 8 have substantially the same configurations, but have different values depending on shapes, dimensions, and materials including differences within a tolerance. Further, in the processing chambers, the standard pattern obtained when the sample wafer 4 is processed under the equivalent conditions as the real wafer 4 in the processing chamber 2 of any vacuum processing unit 103 including those other than the vacuum processing apparatus 100 is used to detect the remaining film thickness and the etching amount as shown in step 308.

FIG. 5A is a graph showing a differential value of the intensity of the interference light for each of the plurality of wavelengths from the surface of the wafer 4 obtained from the inside of the processing chamber 2 at the arbitrary time during the processing when any wafer 4 which is the real wafer, is processed along the flowchart shown in FIG. 4. A horizontal axis represents the wavelength and a vertical axis represents the value of the smoothed coefficient time-series data D_(ij). On the other hand, FIG. 5B is a graph showing the differential value of the intensity of the interference light for each of the plurality of wavelengths from the surface of the wafer 4 obtained from the inside of the processing chamber 2 at the arbitrary time during the processing when another wafer 4 which is the real wafer, is processed along the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. A horizontal axis represents the wavelength and a vertical axis represents the value of the value Q_(ij) obtained by dividing the smoothing time-series data Y_(ij) by the smoothed coefficient time-series data D_(ij).

In FIG. 5A, it is found that a difference in D_(ij) values of the processing chambers A and B in a region having a wavelength of 400 nm or less is larger than a difference in D_(ij) values in a region having a wavelength of 400 nm or more. On the other hand, in FIG. 5B, a magnitude of a difference between the Q_(ij) values in the processing chambers A and B in the region having the wavelength of 400 nm or less is suppressed to be smaller than that in the case of FIG. 5A, and the magnitude of the difference is close to constant over an entire range of the shown wavelength. As described above, it is found that the influence of different states of inner wall surfaces of the processing chambers A and B shown in FIG. 5A on the spectral balance is prevented as shown in FIG. 5B in the smoothing time-series data Q_(ij) obtained by dividing or normalizing the smoothed differential coefficient time-series data Y_(ij) by the smoothing time-series data D_(ij).

Accordingly, with the configuration of the present embodiment, when the end point of the etching processing of the wafer 4 as the real wafer is determined or the remaining film thickness of the processing target film is detected using the pattern (standard pattern) of the differential coefficient of the intensity of the interference light having the same wavelength as the parameter in each processing chamber of a different processing unit, it is possible to reduce deterioration of the accuracy of detection or determination and to perform the process with a high accuracy even if a state of the surface of the processing chamber to be determined or detected for the wafer 4 or the condition of the processing is different from the condition of the processing chamber in which the standard pattern is obtained. Accordingly, even in the vacuum processing apparatus 100 that processes the plurality of wafers 4 as the real wafers using the plurality of processing chambers, it is possible to obtain the high processing yield without obtaining and using the standard pattern used for determination and detection in advance for each processing chamber. Further, the number of sample wafers used for obtaining the standard pattern is reduced, and an operating cost of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the end point can be accurately determined even if the atmosphere in the processing chamber changes, the yield of the processing of the processing target material 4 for manufacturing a semiconductor device as a product can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, description is given on an assumption that the light which is from the film structure including the processing target film on the surface of the wafer 4 disposed in the processing chamber 2 and is transmitted to the spectroscope 9 through the optical fiber 7 is emitted from the plasma which is formed in the space above the wafer 4 in the processing chamber 2 and is irradiated and reflected with respect to the film structure. On the other hand, the light may be light having a wavelength within a predetermined range radiated from above to the surface of the wafer 4 from a light emitting source including a lamp, a diode, or the like disposed outside the vacuum container above the processing chamber 2. It is desirable that the wavelength of the light within the predetermined range from such a light emitting source includes the plurality of wavelengths, and that the vacuum container of each vacuum processing unit of the vacuum processing apparatus 100 is provided with a light emitting source having the same configuration and the same specification with the same intensity distribution for the same wavelength (frequency).

Further, not limited to the detection of the etching amount and the determination of the end point of the processing when the processing of the wafer 4 as the real wafer is performed in the processing chamber 2 of each of the plurality of vacuum processing units 103, when the etching processing is intermittently and successively performed one by one of one batch of the wafers 4 in any one of the vacuum processing units 103, in initial processing among the processing of the wafers 4 of the one batch (lot) and processing to be performed after this in sequence, conditions such as adhesion of a product or distribution, an amount thereof, and a thickness of deposition on a surface of a member which is disposed in the processing chamber 2 and faces the plasma, roughness of the surface, and physical properties of a material constituting the member are naturally different. Therefore, the difference in the conditions of the surfaces may change distribution or balance of the emission of the plasma or the spectrum of the light from the surface of the wafer 4. In this way, with increase in the number of wafers 4 processed in the processing chamber 2 and a cumulative time during which the processing is performed, even if the balance of the spectrum of the interference light from the wafer 4 obtained during the processing changes, the accuracy of the end point determination and the etching amount detection can be improved by applying the configuration of the above-described embodiment. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit including a processing chamber which is disposed in a vacuum container and in which plasma is formed, a sample table which is disposed below a space in which the plasma is formed in the processing chamber and on which a wafer having a processing target film is mounted on an upper surface, a light receiving unit disposed above the processing chamber and configured to receive light from the wafer during processing of the wafer using the plasma, and a detector connected to the light receiving unit and configured to detect a thickness of the processing target film during the processing or an arrival at an end point of the processing, wherein the detector has a function of detecting the thickness of the processing target film by comparing a pattern for detection in which a wavelength of a predetermined value related to intensities of light of a plurality of wavelengths with respect to a change of the thickness of the processing target film obtained in advance is used as a parameter with a real pattern of the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths obtained at a particular time during the processing, and the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light is obtained by dividing a differential coefficient value of time-series data of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths by time-series data indicating values of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths.
 2. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light is obtained by dividing a differential coefficient value of time-series data from which a noise is removed by the time-series data from which the noise is removed from the time-series data indicating the values of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths.
 3. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each detector of a plurality of the processing units detects the thickness of the processing target film by using the same pattern for detection.
 4. A vacuum processing method of a wafer by mounting a wafer including a processing target film on an upper surface on a sample table in a processing chamber disposed in a vacuum container constituting a processing unit, and processing the wafer while forming plasma in the processing chamber, receiving light from the processing target film, and detecting an intensity of the light, the vacuum processing method comprising: a step of detecting a thickness of the processing target film or an arrival at an endpoint of the processing by comparing a real pattern of a predetermined value related to intensities of light of a plurality of wavelengths from the processing target film, which is obtained at an arbitrary time during the processing of the wafer, with a pattern for detection in which a wavelength of the predetermined value related to the intensities of light of the plurality of wavelengths with respect to a change of a thickness of the processing target film obtained in advance is used as a parameter, wherein the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light is obtained by dividing a differential coefficient value of time-series data of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths by time-series data indicating values of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths.
 5. The vacuum processing method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined value related to the intensities of the light is obtained by dividing a differential coefficient value of time-series data from which a noise is removed by the time-series data from which the noise is removed from the time-series data indicating the values of the intensities of the light of the plurality of wavelengths.
 6. The vacuum processing method according to claim 4, wherein in each of a plurality of the processing units, the thickness of the processing target film is detected using the pattern for detection. 